This Windows tool makes it super easy to debloat and cut down ads on your Android TV (www.androidauthority.com)
from throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to technology@lemmy.world on 07 Feb 2024 23:01
https://lemmy.nz/post/6581880

#technology

threaded - newest

Dasnap@lemmy.world on 07 Feb 2024 23:23 next collapse

Lads didn’t bother with a link to the actual project.

xdaforums.com/…/tool-all-in-one-tool-for-windows-…

deweydecibel@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 22:46 collapse

The tool is virus-free.

If someone points out valid concerns being raised about your software, and this is the only thing you have to say in response, that’s not reassuring.

[deleted] on 10 Feb 2024 01:47 collapse

.

flux@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 00:04 next collapse

Anyone use this or something similar for the shield? Looking to eliminate the ads.

sik0fewl@kbin.social on 08 Feb 2024 00:17 next collapse

I can't remember how I set it up, but I use Wolf Launcher and it's great.

SuperRecording@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 00:38 next collapse

I use Shield Pro 2019 since Nov 2019, have been keeping up on software updates – haven’t ever noticed ads. I use Pi-hole though, maybe that has been ‘shielding’ me (ha!) all this time and I didn’t realize it?

(To clarify I mean no ads in the Shield UI itself, I’d still see ads in individual streaming apps like Hulu)

admin@lemmy.my-box.dev on 08 Feb 2024 02:39 collapse

For me the default launcher would always first list “recommendations” to install Disney plus or other platforms, before showing content that I’m actually interested in.

I have since switched to a different launcher, one that automatically starts up plex as well, since that’s all I use it for anyway.

ripley@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 01:25 next collapse

I just got Projectivy Launcher. You need to get premium (one-time 7.25 cost) to set it as the default but it has some nice customizations. Works great on my Shield and a Google TV.

JohnWorks@sh.itjust.works on 08 Feb 2024 02:44 next collapse

I just recently got projectivity but didn’t need to buy it to set as default.

LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 08:23 collapse

Premium is only needed for some more niche settings, not setting as default launcher.

ripley@lemmy.world on 11 Feb 2024 14:35 collapse

Ah well - supporting the dev isn’t the worst possible outcome. It sure does make me happy to not see the Google ads regardless.

LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world on 11 Feb 2024 14:48 collapse

Absolutely, totally worth the 7 euros nonetheless!

knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works on 08 Feb 2024 02:00 next collapse

Projectivy + pihole or use adguard dns.

LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 08:21 collapse

This is the way

[deleted] on 08 Feb 2024 17:35 collapse

.

Extrasvhx9he@lemmy.today on 08 Feb 2024 00:30 next collapse

Don’t own an android TV or box but can you really not change the default launcher natively?

SomethingBurger@jlai.lu on 08 Feb 2024 00:58 next collapse

Android TV is very limited compared to regular Android. It’s hot garbage. Connecting a Bluetooth headset requires navigating through 4 levels of menus, it is missing several accessibility features such as audio balance settings, and has ads on the launcher. On top of that, it runs like shit even on a 4 core CPU.

Not that regular Android is much better.

cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca on 08 Feb 2024 03:08 collapse

The entire android tv UI is garbage. Lose internet while Disney plus or Netflix are loading? There’s a good chance you need to force close them to make them work again. That’s like 5 menus deep and doesn’t make a lot of sense how to get there. Long press to bring up app info? Yeah right!

glockenspiel@programming.dev on 08 Feb 2024 03:17 collapse

And the hardware is often total junk. There’s a reason people still recommend the Shield, a device which is 5 years old and runs Android 9.

People here don’t want to hear it, but using an Apple TV will ruin the experience for everything else from a hardware perspective. Software aside, of course. There’s no reason for Android devices to exist on such sub par hardware. And yet…

stratosfear@lemmy.sdf.org on 08 Feb 2024 03:37 collapse

The Shield Software Experience is version 9. The Android version is 11.

WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 01:38 next collapse

I have a chromecast with Google tv and could natively install a launcher from the playstore and non playstore apps from file managers. I have no ads. Autoboot to my streaming app. Remapped remote buttons. All without using adb

criitz@reddthat.com on 08 Feb 2024 02:11 collapse

Running the streaming app on the Chromecast itself? Which app? Any links or references? I’d love to do something like this.

WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 02:34 collapse

I don’t know the rules here I’ll pm you.

knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works on 08 Feb 2024 02:02 next collapse

Of course you can. Even on the cheap pucks from Walmart. I run projectivy on those and my shield.

Esqplorer@lemmy.zip on 08 Feb 2024 13:20 collapse

How long do you think we have before Projectivy is taken down?

refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org on 08 Feb 2024 03:18 next collapse

Usually you have to either disable the default launcher with adb or you need to remap the home button to open a dofferent launcher.

I always go the adb route for everything. I also have UART access on my TV, so I can disable the setup wizard and avoid logging into anything or accepting any EULAs.

downhomechunk@midwest.social on 08 Feb 2024 04:06 next collapse

They don’t make it easy, but it’s not hard either. Flauncher + adb to change the default launcher ftw!

FrameXX@discuss.tchncs.de on 08 Feb 2024 06:19 next collapse

You can with some tinkering. You can uninstall the default launcher with ADB shell and some Android TV show select launcher options when more than 1 is installed.

Solemn@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 Feb 2024 16:55 collapse

It takes literally no effort with ProjectIvy. It’s just a menu selection in the new launcher to set it as default.

When I tried FLauncher it didn’t have that convenient selection, and I’d have to adb in to set it as default. So I didn’t end up using it.

Kushia@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 01:38 next collapse

The Virustotal results are concerning though.

circuscritic@lemmy.ca on 08 Feb 2024 02:33 next collapse

On mobile so I haven’t dug into them, but Kaspersky and CheckPoint are both vendors whose flagging does justify further looking into.

Someone should probably run some sandboxed scans and post the links.

www.virustotal.com/gui/file/…/detection

Bandicoot_Academic@lemmy.one on 08 Feb 2024 06:53 collapse

Side note. What you posted is just the RAR archive. The actual file is much worse.

www.virustotal.com/gui/file/…/detection

felixwhynot@lemmy.world on 09 Feb 2024 18:45 collapse

Thanks for sharing this. I took a look and it seems like most of them are “malware/generic“. I wonder how much of this is because it is some random script file that is launching shell commands like ADB?

Apollo2323@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 Feb 2024 03:11 next collapse

You are totally right those results should be check. I used this tool instead if anyone is interested :

adbappcontrol.com/en/

jasep@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 03:49 next collapse

There is no reason why this shouldn’t be on GitHub since it’s likely just a bunch of ADB commands anyway. In the Reddit thread the author repeatedly refused to acknowledge or address the calls to make the tool open source. No thanks, seems too shady to me.

deweydecibel@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 22:39 collapse

Someone still on Reddit should go add a comment about the virus total, preferably as a reply to that top comment for visibility.

Kushia@lemmy.ml on 09 Feb 2024 07:42 collapse

Good luck with that. Looking though the comments people are just installing and using this without any thought or scrutiny whatsoever and such a comment would likely be considered hostile by them.

DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe on 09 Feb 2024 20:09 collapse

People that bought an Android TV blindly trusting things you say

books@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 12:33 collapse

Ha! I feel like I live online and I’ve never heard of this site.

So you just upload a file and it scans it before you install it? Fairly legit service?

lambda@programming.dev on 08 Feb 2024 13:17 next collapse

Yeah, very legit.

Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 Feb 2024 18:11 collapse

FYI: Google is the owner :)

TwistedPear@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 01:39 next collapse

Definitely going to try this.

I have DNS adblocking / tracker blocking set up on an Android TV (spoiler: Amazon is very noisy, even if you don’t watch anything on Prime Video), but it doesn’t help against native launcher ads.

When the launcher first started showing ads, you could disable certain services, but it would break playback on other apps.

Awe@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 04:56 collapse

Try blocking this domain manually and see if it works (it wasn’t part of my native lists in my router’s adblock)

androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com    

If you have already set up your device and currently see ads, you need to reset the android tv home application data to get rid of them. This will temporarily show you the old dashboard, but the new one will load eventually (without ads, in its place it shows a dark “Google play, Youtube”, and something else that isnt very intrusive).

pineapplelover@lemm.ee on 08 Feb 2024 17:47 collapse

Somebody should send in a pr for the adblocking lists on github

thorbot@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 04:23 next collapse

You know what’s even better for cutting down ads on a fucking android TV? Never owning one

pufferfisherpowder@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 07:51 next collapse

Nah, a Chromecast with Google TV is a super cheap and reliable way to sail the high seas. Stremio, VPN, some kind of debrid service. Works better than any legal streaming service my friend told me. Not that I would ever try to hurt the poor studios.

FoolHen@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 07:57 next collapse

Do you set up the VPN on the router or on the Chromecast?

pufferfisherpowder@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 20:43 collapse

On the Chromecast, one of the other reasons I got one. There’s some localised content I get to access like that.

I considered a VPN on the router but a) the router provided by our ISP doesn’t support that, so it would be another investment and b) I didn’t want to introduce a potential point of headache for when I’m not around. I.e. my non tech savvy partner having trouble with the VPN.

Pasketti@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 08 Feb 2024 13:30 collapse

Personally I had to stop using my Chromecast because the 4k playback was so choppy at certain points it became unwatchable. Ironically the native software on my TV does better, but still not perfect…

cuntonabike@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 08:58 collapse

I’m terribly sorry for wanting functionality from my television other than playing a DVD or watching terrestrial TV.

I swear some people on lemmy need to chill. Not everyone lives in an off grid cabin in the woods, with no passport, not connected to the internet BUT running a local network, with a server containing all their DVDrips.

Awe@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 04:57 next collapse

(On the shield 2019) If you block this domain with your dns ad blocker, the default launcher will only show ads for the YouTube, Google TV, and Google Play Store apps (not individual shows). I find these to be far less annoying as they use muted tones.

androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com    

If you have already setup your device and currently see ads, you need to reset the android tv home application data to get rid of them. This will temporarily show you the old dashboard, but the new one will load eventually (without ads).

deweydecibel@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 22:43 next collapse

I don’t get why someone would be willing to put in the effort to block that domain rather than just install a different launcher. Much simpler, less likely to inadvertently break something else.

Awe@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 22:46 collapse

For me it was much simpler to just add it as a line in the field in my router settings than trying to find a launcher that was better while looking decent.

I also like the look of the launcher minus the ads as well, so that might play into it.

I’m not worried about it breaking any features tied to the ads, and I haven’t had any problems in like 2 years I’ve used it.

jasep@lemmy.world on 09 Feb 2024 01:14 collapse

I have this blocked with Blokada locally on my Shield and can confirm it works great. I also prefer the stock launcher just without all the ad junk.

I recently bought a TCL TV with Android TV and I was hoping this trick would work with it but it didn’t. So if anyone knows how to make the TCL Android TV launcher interface “stock” and stay that way feel free to point it out.

x4740N@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 08:45 next collapse

Just build a htpc powerful enough to display media and play games with good performance

Put a tv tuner card in the htpc

Im_old@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 09:14 next collapse

Kodi forever, with retropie

RazorsLedge@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 14:26 collapse

You mean jellyfin! The kodi library management design is silly. Tightly coupled with the player itself.

asexualchangeling@lemmy.ml on 08 Feb 2024 15:56 next collapse

I love jellyfin I just wish I could access folder view for my metric ton of audiodramas. Sorting by album, artist, etc works great for songs, but not for longer form interconnected media like that. my file structure is already sorted I just want to be able to view that with the same program that I view everything else with

pirat@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 23:14 collapse

For video content, iirc, it’s possible to browse the files just like you’re asking for by creating a “Mixed film and programmes” library. The description of the type, when creating it, mentions: “Content will be displayed as plain folders.” However, I don’t know if that would also work for audiodramas? Possibly if you disable auto-fetching of metadata and provide it all yourself — either by creating .nfo-files and supplying correctly named images within the folder structure, or through the jellyfin app/webui.

Im_old@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 19:06 collapse

I have kodi on a rpi3, with the jellyfin plug in so all the decoding happens on hardware (old cheap nvidia) on the server where jellyfin runs.

Psiczar@aussie.zone on 08 Feb 2024 09:20 next collapse

Been there done that. I prefer the Nvidia Shield, easier interface to navigate with a remote, I don’t have to login first, it rarely needs an update, no noisy fans, I don’t need to keep a physical keyboard connected to it, it’s way cheaper, I don’t need to mess around with codecs, and there aren’t a lot of unnecessary services and background applications hogging memory and cpu resources.

I get that most of this can be fixed or worked around on a htpc, but that’s effort I don’t have to spend on a Shield.

Squizzy@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 09:24 next collapse

This about avoiding android tv and ads though

Psiczar@aussie.zone on 08 Feb 2024 09:25 collapse

I run a Pihole, no ads.

smooth_tea@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 10:55 collapse

That’s BS. It’s impossible for something like pihole to block ads like the ones we get on YouTube/Android tv because they are served from the same domain as the regular content and a pihole doesn’t know the difference.

The only way to block them is to run unofficial apps that replace YouTube and the likes.

Psiczar@aussie.zone on 08 Feb 2024 11:01 collapse

I am using the default launcher and while I get ads for TV shows in the home screen, I do not get ads for third-party products like chicken wraps. I can also watch Youtube without getting third-party ads during or in-between videos. I assume given this is not BS, the ads are not being served from the same domain as the video.

smooth_tea@lemmy.world on 09 Feb 2024 08:30 collapse

I really don’t believe it. At some point it was even a suggested workaround to intercept requests to port 53 because the Shield or its apps were not honoring your network’s DNS configuration. Which would be similar to the pihole not being in the picture at all.

If it’s really working for you, I suggest telling the community how you’ve done it because this question pops up every other day and the answer is always the same.

GeekySalsa@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 10:06 next collapse

It also smoothly supports all dolby/dts stuff with no fuss. To my knowledge, there’s no way to get dolby vision working on an HTPC.

rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee on 08 Feb 2024 12:01 collapse

I have never heard of anyone talk about nvidia shield since 2013 until I joined lemmy. This is the weirdest marketing psyop I have ever seen.

lambda@programming.dev on 08 Feb 2024 13:15 next collapse

Then you weren’t in the r/self-hosting or r/piracy communities. It comes from the fact that it supports most codecs. So when you want to watch almost any movie on Plex, the server won’t have to transcode.

rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee on 08 Feb 2024 13:20 collapse

I was and I guess the psyop was dealt with there.

lambda@programming.dev on 08 Feb 2024 23:12 collapse

Idk why you insist on it being a psyop, but you do you. I tried to find an android device that had hardware support for H.264, H.265, and others and it’s not much there. I believe Firetv 4K does but then you are getting a more locked down android with a bunch more ads.

rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee on 08 Feb 2024 23:14 collapse

You are a psyop

Evotech@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 16:18 collapse

I also use a Nvidia shield, very happy with it… Mostly. Clean, few ads, although they did add some banner ads for major streaming providers. But I don’t mind seeing a banner for a few new shows

Not psyops

rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee on 08 Feb 2024 16:44 collapse

This is a psyop because it makes my brain tingle.

aberrate_junior_beatnik@midwest.social on 08 Feb 2024 13:09 next collapse

Here, I drew the word “Just” in this post

<img alt="" src="https://midwest.social/pictrs/image/58a2b1e3-95b9-4cb5-a19f-c5dd1e7464d3.jpeg">

[Caption for the visually impaired: “Atlas holding up the celestial globe” by Guercino]

RazorsLedge@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 14:26 next collapse

What software does it run which is able to access non-local media like Hulu, Netflix, peacock, etc?

lurker8008@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 16:32 collapse

A $40 htpc with 4k HDR output, wifi, a remote, and uses like 10W maxed and <1W idle? Please share parts list.

[deleted] on 08 Feb 2024 09:20 next collapse

.

Gemini24601@lemmy.world on 08 Feb 2024 16:22 collapse

I just tried it and it worked flawlessly, my TV is a lot less sluggish now. Just make sure you turn off Windows Defender before using.